Category: Fishing and Hunting
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DNR to Stock Chinook Again at Gills Rock
A group of dedicated Gills Rock anglers and charter captains will again babysit a large group of six-month-old Chinook salmon for two weeks. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources began stocking Gills Rock with 30,000 Chinook fingerlings in 2014, after complaints from area charter captains that their businesses were being affected by a lack of […]
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Blessing of the Fleet Festival Celebrates Baileys Harbor’s Maritime History
Baileys Harbor will celebrate their long, rich maritime industry with The Blessing of the Fleet Festival on May 21-22. The festival begins with the Door County Scottie Rally’s Parade of Scots, followed by a traditional Blessing Ceremony over CB radio to all vessels wishing to receive it, regardless of denomination, vessel type, or homeport. After […]
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Lake Michigan Anglers Need to Be Flexible
Lake Michigan anglers increased their efforts and reeled in greater numbers of native species including lake trout and walleye in 2015, even as the overall sport fish harvest declined due to lower catches of salmon and stocked trout. Results from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ 2015 survey of anglers on Lake Michigan bear out […]
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Walleyes for Tomorrow Tourney Winners
Here are the winners of the annual Dave Pagels Memorial/Walleyes for Tomorrow Ice Fishing Tournament held in Little Sturgeon on Feb. 27. Walleye Division: First – Bob Hank, 10.18 lb.; Second – Randy Lemieux, Sr., 9.71 lb.; Third – Wayne Wilke, 7.61 lb. Perch Division: First – Marty Mraz, 1.56 lb.; Second – Jim Konop, […]
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An Icy Piscatorial Pursuit: Europe Lake Attracts Pair of Kenosha Anglers
Last weekend was free ice fishing weekend in Wisconsin, meaning anyone could fish without a license. I set out on Saturday in search of hardy ice fisherfolk, convinced that hordes of them would be out there taking advantage of the state’s invitation to fish for free. I first drove to Kangaroo Lake to see if […]
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Washington Island Whitefish Heading to IL for Fish Boil Fest
The second annual Washington Island Fish Boil Festival (WIFF) at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn, Ill., is scheduled for Feb. 6. Ken Koyen (KK), Julian Hagen, boil helpers, kettles, firewood, Whitefish with trimmings, Jerry Mann’s brats, and guitars will be leaving the Island for a journey to Berwyn. Fisherman KK will come ashore to conduct one of […]
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Expanded Early Trout Season Announced
An expanded early trout season that opens Jan. 2 will give Wisconsin anglers one more reason to love winter. While ice fishing will still rule the day on most inland waters, rivers and streams with strong groundwater flows should be open and ready to greet anglers interested in catching and releasing trout. The expanded early […]
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Beer Fest, Bike Ride, Bass Tourney and Cave Tours Make for A Busy Door County Weekend!
Beer, fishing, bats and bike rides – it’s every outdoors lovers dream weekend in Door County! Here are our top picks for the weekend ahead:
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Bassmasters, Old Bolts and More at Sturgeon Bay’s Harvest Fest
The Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center is excited to announce this year’s Harvest Festival and Street Art Auction will be held in partnership with the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Sept. 19. All the fun begins at 9 am on Third Avenue with a variety of art and craft vendors as well as […]
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Charlie’s Smokehouse Turns Whitefish into Gold
Chris Voight’s workday begins at six o’clock in the morning. He pulls three to four hundred pounds of whitefish, salmon and trout out of cold briny water, and prepares them for smoking; it is the same one his grandfather used when he started the family business, Charlie’s Smokehouse, in 1932. Chris began working in the […]
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Casting Colors – The Art of Hooking Fish
“What those crazy fish see, I don’t know. But it matters.” Todd Haleen is the owner of First Choice Charters in Baileys Harbor and anglers across the county echo his statement. The fishing lure may be the single most important variable between a big haul and driving home with an empty cooler. The science behind […]
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Fish Creek Rethinking Waterfront Access Areas
A Waterfront Master Plan is in the works for Fish Creek with the goal of redeveloping public water access areas. The plan will focus on the town docks, boat launches and the public beach with a long-term design to be developed over the next year. Although separate from the planned highway resurfacing slated for the […]
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Sturgeon Bay is World’s Bass Capital
“When an 8.45-pound fish wins big bass — and that fish is a smallmouth — heads turn. That’s exactly what happened at a local tournament on this section of Lake Michigan last year. In that very same two-day tournament, it took 67.13 pounds to win (an average of almost 34 pounds per day). If you […]
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Steve Osterhaus Casts in a County Not Known for Fly Fishing
It may not be as renowned as Montana’s Bighorn River or the creeks twisting through Yellowstone, but a May evening on the Mink River in Ellison Bay is exactly where Steve Osterhaus wants to cast his flies. “Any kind of fish that swims will basically take a fly,” he said. “It’s a matter of getting […]
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“Reel it in, Sally. Reel it in!” cheer my friends aboard the First Choice Charter boat bobbing in the blue expanse of Lake Michigan. The sun is setting behind the faint horizontal line of Door County.
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Olde Stone Quarry Park Re-named for George Pinney
The Door County Board of Supervisors renamed Olde Stone Quarry County Park as George K. Pinney County Park, in honor of longtime Parks Director George Pinney.
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Stalking Tranquility – Door County’s Hunting Tradition Alive and Well
When you ask a seasoned hunter what he likes most about his sport, don’t assume the answer is bagging a 30-point buck. More than likely he will mention the tranquility of the woods, the closeness to nature. Civilized man often works inside a building and travels inside a vehicle. Sometimes his only opportunity to commune with […]
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As The Karen rumbles out from the Henriksen Fisheries dock into Lake Michigan, the late spring sky is beginning to brighten, the air fresh, the water a mirror, but the sun is sleeping in. “I tell my crew that tourists pay lots of money to see something like this,” Charlie Henriksen says. But the crew, […]
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Used to be that humans would fish through a hole in the ice during the winter months out of necessity and survival, now – it’s mostly for fun. On the weekend of March 3 – 6, Husby’s Food & Spirits of Sister Bay will celebrate the curious and popular sport of ice fishing with their second annual Ice Fishing Tournament on the waters of Door and Kewaunee Counties.
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The Big Ones That Don’t Get Away: The Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament
“The Small Mouth Bass,” said fisherman Don Hewkin of Zion, Illinois, “are what bring me.” He and his fishing partner Dave Davis have entered the Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament every year since 1994. The contest is an annual event on the weekend following Mother’s Day. Hewkin likes the number of fish in the bay […]